The voice services network offers many services and features besides simple "toll-free" 800 and charged 900 services. Initially, a basic "toll-free" 800 number call was a simple one-to-one translation from the 800 dialed call to a traditional POTS destination telephone number with the associated reverse billing capability. At present, a single 800 toll free call placed on the voice services network can now be directed to different destinations based on numerous common discriminators such as the time of day, the originating NPA, basic information about the callers, the location of the calling party, any additional digits collected from the caller, the availability and preferences of the called party, as well as such items as call forwarding options when a busy signal is obtained.
New forms of digital communication services based on digital technologies are now being introduced into the phone networks. These digital communication services require end-to-end digital facilities in contrast to voiceband (POTS) services. Throughout the remainder of this description, data calls will refer to digital communication services calls and voice calls will refer to all forms of voiceband services carried over the POTS network. Digital services send various data calls on network lines such as the 56/64 Kbps data lines to transfer data for multimedia purposes, file and image transfer, slow scan video and numerous other data transfer requirements. Smaller or larger data rates may also be subscribed to depending on the type of digital application, end user's equipment, job or service requirements, and the subscriber's willingness to pay.
Some network subscribers of toll free 800 and similar services are now requesting end-to-end digital connections at various data rates to accommodate different data services such as image transfer and multimedia applications and to support hardware such as video terminals. For example, a high-end mail order service can use an 800 toll-free number for soliciting orders from its catalog. A caller at a video terminal calling the 800 toll-free number would be connected to a position with a video agent who would provide the caller with multimedia information on products and/or services and other ordering information.
In order to provide a high quality video connection, it is desirable to connect the caller to the video agent using two channels rather than the single channel commonly used so that a greater bandwidth is available.
Under international protocols like H.320, video collaborative devices attempt to set up the two channels sequentially, a problem arises in the context of a call to a network subscriber which is actually one of a plurality of destinations of the subscriber identified by a common telephone number. Initially, when a call comes in to the common telephone number for the first single channel it arrives at a PBX or CTX or business line of a call center and is typically hunted to the next available position or agent location at one of the plurality of destinations. Once the call is "behind the PBX (or CTX)" and switched to the position, no connection information is available to the network for connecting the second channel. Accordingly, there is no way for the network to automatically link the second channel with the same position where the first channel was connected.
Under both international protocols (i.e.H.320) and proprietary protocols (i.e. Indeo), a further problem arises when a call's ANI is blocked for privacy or is launched from "behind" a caller's PBX (or CTX) when ISDN station ID or automatic identification of outward dialing (AIOD) is not available. Because the ANI of the caller's PBX or CTX will be the ANI seen by the call center when processing the call, the call center has no information regarding the caller's true endpoint. Accordingly, if two or more callers from behind the same PBX (or CTX) call the same call center, current methods result in the call center a) connecting separate calls from two callers as two channels of one call or b) hunting each channel of the two calls to different agents.
Thus, calls from behind a PBX (or CTX) or blocked for privacy present further problems for a call distribution center.
While it is possible to place a second call to the common telephone number over the second channel, the second call will not link with the first because the second call will be hunted to a next available position or location as if it is a new call. Thus, it will either be captured by a free position placed earlier in the hunt sequence or queue or, if it reaches the position where the first channel is connected, it will bypass that position because the location will appear "busy" and there is no way to identify the second call to the position as the second channel of the first call.
Other systems have attempted to overcome the problem by launching calls to the same number on both channels together. That is to say they are launched sequentially, i.e. following one another so that a first call is launched and then a second call is launched some time later without waiting for the first call to connect or substantially at the same time. Since both channels do not go through the network over identical paths, a delay will exist between the two channels and thus, one channel will arrive at the PBX or CTX before the other channel does. If, by happenstance, the duration of time between the arrival of the two calls is sufficiently small, equipment at the PBX or CTX can presume the calls are the two channels and, using known methods, connect both channels to the same position. However, if one of the channels arrives near simultaneously with an independent call, the equipment at the PBX or CTX will presume those calls are the two channels and improperly connect both channels to the same position. Alternatively, if the duration of time between the arrival of the two calls is too great, they will be treated as separate calls and, as described above, hunted to separate locations.
There is therefore a need in the art for a reliable method and system for connecting a second channel of a call to a position to which a first channel has been hunted and connected.
There is a further need in the art for a reliable method and system for connecting a plurality of channels of a call to a position to a discrete agent position.